Combination heater and humidifier

ABSTRACT

A combination heater and humidifier of the baseboard type which includes an elongated evaporation water trough or reservoir sitting on and in thermal contact with a line conveying the heating medium whereby water introduced into the water trough is evaporated therefrom by means of the heat directly conducted thereto from the heating medium line.

United States Patent 3,265,305 8/1966 Johnson 3,096,817 7/1963 McKenna 3,092,179 6/1963 Lauck Primary Examiner-Charles Sukalo Atrorneys- Kenwood Ross and Chester E. Flavin ABSTRACT: A combination heater and humidifier of the baseboard type which includes an elongated evaporation PATENTEDunv 30 I971 3,623 547 SHEETlUFZ VENTOR. SAM WALLANS ATTORNEYS.

PATENTEDHuv 30 WI 3, 628 547 SHEET 2 BF 2 INVENTOR. SAMUEL WALLANS ATTORNEYS.

COMBINATION HEATER AND HUMIDIFIER The invention relates to improvements in heating and humidifying systems for use in combination with any of several types of conventional heating plants, whether the heating system is of steam, hot water, hot air, electricity, or otherwise, and provides a self-contained manual or fully automatic heating and/or humidifying system which operates efficiently in supplying a desired degree of heat and humidity to a room area without further attention.

The invention provides a system wherein the conduit containing the heating medium is in direct contact with the water trough or reservoir, which latter member in turn is in direct contact with the water of the humidifying system, the water as the vaporizable medium being vaporized continually as the system water is being heated, all wherefor vaporization is quicker than has heretofore been realizable. The system makes use of the heating medium to heat the water and to make the humidifying medium, irrespective of the type of heating medium with which it is used.

The invention provides a combined radiator and humidifier which can be used as a baseboard radiator or as a part thereof, can be incorporated in existing baseboard constructions or other suitable housings, but is especially adapted for installation in an inconspicuous arrangement, as in association with a wall and floor and in place of and simulating the usual baseboard adjacent the floor level.

Comfort is affected by relative humidity and air in heated buildings is frequently so dry as to be objectionable for human comfort, not to mention the resultant effects in separating joints and cracks in floors, walls, moldings, furniture and whatever else is exposed to such air.

Humidifiers have enjoyed wide use for counteracting some of these effects, but no combination heating and humidifying system has yet appeared where the heating medium is in direct contact with the water container, the water container in turn is in direct contact with the water to be heated and vaporized, and the water in turn is in direct contact with the air to be heated and humidified.

In the drawings:

FIG. 1 is a fragmentary view, in top plan, form of the device of the invention;

F IG. 2 is a fragmentary view, in side elevation, of the FIG. 1 device; and

FIG. 3 is a view, in section, on line 3-3 of FIG. 1.

Inasmuch as desirably heated and humidified air in dwelling rooms may, in most cases, be directed or introduced from near or at the floor level, a preferred form of the present invention comprehends a simulated baseboard-type structure, although it is not limited to such an arrangement, as, in its broader aspects, the device may be useful when otherwise installed.

As a baseboard structure, the means employed for its support are arranged for leaving an opening or space beneath the structure and adjacent the floor level extending throughout the length of the radiator, thereby not only enhancing its general appearance but also providing for the free access of room air to the heating element from that air strata adjacent the floor level which needs most to be heated. Furthermore, this opening or space, being continuous and unobstructed from end to end of the radiator, facilitates removal of dust and litter that is so prone to gather at the fioor and wall juncture.

The heating medium enters a heating and humidifying unit at one end thereof from a source and via a heating medium supply pipe which may be suitably provided with a conventional humidity and/or thermostatic control and, preferentially, with a return pipe at the opposite end of the heating unit for returning the cooled heating medium to the source. These components are not part of the invention so are not shown in the drawings. Likewise as to the usual flooring and wall structures and any outer casing or housing.

Unit 10 is in the form of a horizontal longitudinally extending pipe or conduit formed of stock, such as copper, having good heat conductivity characteristics and spaced upwardly of floor and outwardly of a wall or other supporting surface, and, if desired, as a part of any suitable type of heating system.

of a preferred Being spaced upwardly of the floor, the cool ambient room air will be understood to come from below such conduit and to be heated as it flows upwardly and wipes past the structural elements of the device of the invention.

Unit 10 will be of suitable design and form for circulating therethrough a heat-transferring medium, such as water or steam or air or electricity or the like, and will be of suitable length to meet any specific requirements. If desired, suitable lengths or sections of the unit may be provided with means by which they may be thereby interjoined in end-to-end manner into a single unitary construction of any desired length. That is, the length of the unit employed in a given instance will depend upon the requirements of the room or rooms and the structural features of the invention will permit a plurality of lengths of such unit to be combined, in an end to end manner. Contrariwise, each length or section of unit may be spaced from and entirely independent of any other length or section.

A generally horizontally extending relatively long and shallow, open-topped, water trough, formed of thin sheet metal, is

supported by unit 10, is V-shaped in cross section, and includes a central annular pipe sleeving portion 20 of suitable dimensions to snugly circumscribe heating unit 10 and to be supported thereby and in thermal contact therewith.

From each of the confronting lower free edges of pipe sleeving portion 20, a vertical wall portion 22 depends, the pair thereof being held in confronting relation as to each other by their very formation.

At the lower extremity of each vertical wall portion 22, another portion is turned upwardly and diverges outwardly away therefrom as an outboard wall portion 24 terminating in an uppermost planar fin-supporting edge 26. The pair of planar edges 26 are coplanar as to each other.

Being outwardly slanted, outboard wall portions 24 may be more easily contacted by ambient air rising from the floor area to assist in an efficient evaporation of the water in the water trough.

The water trough is open-topped so that water contained therewithin may be continually evaporated by the heat from the heating unit. The outside dimensions of the water trough may be varied so as to accommodate to different situations. That is, the water trough may be made relatively more narrow as to its front-to-rear width and likewise may be made relatively higher in its top-to-bottom dimension, to suit any specific requirements.

The water trough may be provided adjacent each of its ends with a housing 28 or end wall so as to enclose the same thereat, and, as aforesaid, the device may constitute one socalled section and several such sections may be joined together in an end-to-end manner so that a plurality of such sections may be employed unisonly better to accommodate to the dimensions of the area being served.

Housing 28 may be provided with a float controlled water feed inlet (not shown) to allow the maintenance of a desired water level within the water trough and likewise may be provided with appropriate overflow means to serve as a safeguard against any water damage in the event of the malfunctioning of any system component.

The body of water within the water trough provides the means for increasing the humidity of the ambient air.

At each side of unit 10 and the water trough, the tending and opposite side, a fin assemblage is provided for aiding the heat-radiating and water-vaporizing functions. Each comprises a strip of thin sheet metal, typically of aluminum, which is vertically corrugated to form inner and outer vertically extending crests 32 and 34 respectively with obliquely arranged vertically disposed connecting sidewalls 36 so as to define a plurality of more or less axially spaced rectangularly shaped fins.

Sidewalls 36 and inner crests 32 of each fin assemblage are suitably slotted as at 38 so as to provide the means by which each such fin assemblage may be interengaged with and firmly shoulder on its respective outboard wall portion 24 of the water trough and thereby to be disposed or hung along a vertical axis with respect to the water trough.

So hung, the uppermost planar edges 40 of the pair of fin as semblages are coplanar as to each other in a plane vertically above the plane of coplanar edges 26.

As each fin assemblage firmly shoulders on a respective outboard wall portion of the water trough, optimum thermal contact between fin assemblages and water trough is assured. Further, the arrangement allows the vertically disposed fins to be spaced upwardly of the flooring to define a form of resistance-free intake for air therebeneath as the fin assemblages are open at their top and bottom edges so as to permit the free flow of air through the spaces between the sidewalls thereof.

A plurality of wicks or evaporator panels 50 are extended between and held with respect to the opposite fin assemblages, each such wick being interengaged with each fin assemblage by means of a suitably located slot 52 extending upwardly into the wick from the lower planar edge thereof so as to receive a respective inner crest 34 of a respective fin assemblage.

If desired, in lieu of interengaging the wicks and fin assemblages at their junctures at the inner crests, as shown, each wick may be made of increased length, as shown in FIG. 1 by reference numeral 60, so as each to be nested within a pair of outer crests.

The wicks are formed of water absorbent material, such as high-wicking cotton fiber orfiber glass or foamed plastic, and are dimensioned to extend an appropriate distance above and below the water level L in the water trough. The wicks are capable of being easily cleaned and renovated even after a long period of use, are light in weight, inexpensive in their manufacture, and are not susceptible to accidental breakage in use nor to damage in shipping.

Each wick is capable of drawing a relatively large amount of water from out of the water trough by the inherent wicking action of the component and is further capable of facilitating rapid evaporation to effect a continuous high rate of humidification of the air passing in the proximity of the wick.

it is noted in particular that the highly efficient form employed is of such character that its size in cross section may be reduced to occupy merely the upper portion of space usually taken up by a baseboard and that capacity of the system may be regulated to all reasonable requirements by extending the structure about a room wherever baseboard space is available. Thus the extended narrow unobstructed openings at the floor level provide for draft upon adjacent air, which draft is imperceptible because it is widely diffused. Furthermore the air drawn to the fins and vaporizing plates or wicks passes therebetween and directly into the room again so that heat and humidity are diffusedly imparted to the room without objectionable air currents.

Additionally, there may be provided an air blower for providing forced air for blowing air upwardly past the device and comprising a rodlike member 70 which may extend parallel to and below the lowermost edges of the water trough,

which member is rotated by means of a suitable motor, not shown, with the outer peripheral surface of the rodlike member being provided with a helically wound vane or vanes 74 as shown in FIG. 2, the same being suitably enclosed within a housing 76 having an opening 80 for the exit of air through the air blower. Rotation of the rodlike member serves to create an elongate curtain of air to produce a uniform flow of air upwardly past the device.

operationally, when the rising air is heated to the desired temperature, a thermostatic valve may open to allow water to enter the water trough, valve means being set to control the amount of moisture permitted to reach the water trough. The moisture escapes upwardly from the wicks, the heated air rising from the unit passing over the sides of the wicks will the least amount of resistance, absorbing the moisture therein, and carrying it upwardly. The moisture passing from the wicks must be in balance with the amount that can be taken by the heated air rising from the heating unit.

Preferred and modified forms of the structure illustrated in the drawings and described in the foregoing specification will suggest other variations to those skilled in the art. These may be made in many respects without departure from the scope of the invention as defined by the following claims.

claim:

1. A baseboard type of heater or combination heating and humidifying device comprising the combination of:

a heating unit in the form of an elongated line for conveying a heating medium,

a humidifying unit in the form of an open generally V- shaped trough for containing a fluid and having a central upstanding sleeving portion circumscribing enclosing and being supported by and in thermal contact with the heating unit for allowing evaporation of the fluid in the trough by heat directly conducted thereto from the heating medium conveyed through the heating unit,

a pair of slotted fin assemblages each supported by the trough at one side thereof and being in the form of an elongated vertically corrugated metallic plate defining a plurality of alternating inner and outer vertically extending crests interconnected by vertically disposed obliquely arranged sidewalls with the inner crests and sidewalls being in thermal contact with the humidifyin g unit,

and a plurality of spaced vertically disposed wicks supported within the crest of the fin assemblages and extending upwardly of the central sleeving portion of the humidifying unit for wicking from the fluid and exposing films of moisture to the air upwardly of the heating unit for the evaporation of same and the humidification of the air.

2. The combination heating and humidifying device according to claim 1 including a blower disposed below the fluid containing trough for blowing air upwardly past the device, 

1. A baseboard type of heater or combination heating and humidifying device comprising the combination of: a heating unit in the form of an elongated line for conveying a heating medium, a humidifying unit in the form of an open generally V-shaped trough for containing a fluid and having a central upstanding sleeving portion circumscribing enclosing and being supported by and in thermal contact with the heating unit for allowing evaporation of the fluid in the trough by heat directly conducted thereto from the heating medium conveyed through the heating unit, a pair of slotted fin assemblages each supported by the trough at one side thereof and being in the form of an elongated vertically corrugated metallic plate defining a plurality of alternating inner and outer vertically extending crests interconnected by vertically disposed obliquely arranged sidewalls with the inner crests and sidewalls being in thermal contact with the humidifying unit, and a plurality of spaced vertically disposed wicks supported within the crest of the fin assemblages and extending upwardly of the central sleeving portion of the humidifying unit for wicking from the fluid and exposing films of moisture to the air upwardly of the heating unit for the evaporation of same and the humidification of the air.
 2. The combination heating and humidifying device according to claim 1 including a blower disposed below the fluid containing trough for blowing air upwardly past the device. 